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Five Travel Habits to Erase Today!
We all have some irritating habits and there are 5 travelers must get rid of in order to have the best trip.
1- Second guessing the guide: guides take travelers all the time, truly they know best when it comes to doing their job.2-Overpacking and asking others to help: if you must bring your rock collection…. do not expect others in our group to help you carry it
3-Always being late: we are a pretty punctual group of women, but from time to time we need to chase someone up.…
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Single Rooms vs. Shares?
The good, the bad and the ugly. We offer shared accommodations on almost all our trips. And we also offer insurance so that if your share cancels, you are covered for the single supplement.
The good: you save a bunch of money! You can chat at night and have someone else in the room if you are a novice traveler.
The bad: you have to be polite and considerate in the room, but we find our travelers are terrific that way.…
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Group Trip Deadlines & Discounts
The Women’s Travel Group has strict deadlines for bookings on most of its trips. The reason is that most resorts / airlines etc. impose these dates to control discounts. For instance, Canyon Ranch gives us a 35% discount on our group booking for Columbus Day Weekend, but the resort takes away unsold rooms in mid August– months before our arrival. This rule guarantees them that unsold rooms can be given to the general public at a higher rate, and it puts pressure on us to fill them.…
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What is a non Plastic Visa?
Since we had this question from some women going to India with us in October,:here is a primer on visas.
To enter foreign countries, (or for non citizens to enter the US), travelers need a visa. If you look at your passport, you will see pages called Visa Pages. For many countries, US Citizens only need to have their passports stamped when they arrive overseas-that stamp is a visa.For Morocco for Thanksgiving, US citizens get their visa stamp on arrival easily.…
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Fear of Flying: Alone that is
You do not have to be afraid of flying to meet up with a Women’s Travel Group trip. We are happy to coordinate you with others. If you live in the West and we are going to Europe or you live in the East and are going to Asia, you might want this service even more. We have several alternatives:
Meet up in the city of departure. On our Cuba trip, we meet up in Miami the night before and have our orientation at an airport hotel.…
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New TSA Rules Need Close Attention
The TSA has announced that they are now requiring all electronic devices be opened at security. Phones, tablets, computers, kindles….. This means some time delay and it requires that your devices have a live battery. Cameras are not mentioned in the list, but beware if they are battery operated.
If you are on a long trip, you will need to re-juice your devices before you go through security, as it is possible that security overseas will match our new regulations. And when you board your direct flights to the US from overseas say like Catania from our Sicily trip, TSA regulations will apply.…
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How Not to Make a Mistake on your Air Ticket
If you are planning on purchasing your own ticket for one of our trips, we are happy to help you. Here are a few details to keep in mind. Even though a destination may be written out as say Mexico City, it might be a nearby airport like Toluca. The key is the airport code which is not always obvious. Lets take the Mexico City example. Toluca is an exurb of Mexico City and some airlines which do not fly into the capital will say Mexico City as the city but use TLC correctly as the code.…
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Phyllis Stoller: new Group Travel Associate Editor
The National Association of Baby Boomer Women has appointed Phyllis Stoller, of The Women’s Travel Group, its Group Travel Associate. Phyllis has a long history of organizing, often leading smart tours or women. Phyllis lived and worked overseas before returning to the US years ago. She made it her life’s mission to encourage women to travel, whether they were coming solo or not.
The full article is here and you will find out all kinds of biographical information you did not know about Phyllis Stoller.…
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5 Ways to be a Great US Tourist
Smile no matter what happens.
Learn a few words in other languages.
Bring something that shows where you live or photos of your family.
Wear something that says you support peace.
Be proud of our country but not a chauvinist.
The hardest task is to smile when you are tired, frustrated and in a rush. Losing your temper or raising your voice is about the worst demeanor you can offer. Force a smile and pretend you are in a presidential debate!…
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Checklist: Can Travel with a Friend?
At Ixtapan Spa last week, were talking about a screening process for traveling with a friend. A woman stated: I never travel with anyone before I spend a day with them shopping. What a terrific idea.
Shopping will determine decisiveness and focus. Anyone who covets something but cannot make up their mind to either buy or move on, can be a time waster. And what are you paying for the most on a tour? Time!
Shopping will tell you something about independence.…